Abstract: "The Common Pheasant diversified during the Late Pleistocene into eight distinct lineages. It originated at the edge of the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau and spread to East and Central Asia. Only the widely distributed lowland lineage of East Asia displayed recent range expansion. Greater phylogeographic structure was identified elsewhere, with lineages showing no sign of recent demographic changes. One lineage in south‐central China is the result of long‐term isolation within a climatically stable but topographically complex region. In lineages from arid Central Asia and China, range expansions were impeded by repeated population fragmentation during dry glacial periods and by recent aridification.
Spatio‐temporal phylogeographic frameworks of widespread taxa such as the common pheasant provide valuable opportunities to identify divergent drivers of regional diversification. Our results suggest that diversification and population histories in the eight distinct evolutionary lineages were shaped by regionally variable effects of past climate and associated environmental changes. The evolutionary history of the Common Pheasant is best reflected by its being split into three species."
Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs ... jgJW3B7seQ
Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
- Michael Szabo
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Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
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Re: Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
Kinda interesting
I had an old Australian aviculture magazine from the c.1950's that mentioned the procurement of "Mongolian Ringneck pheasants" from Blenheim NZ. To this day, there is interest in keeping sub/species pure in Australian aviaries
Older NZ literature frequently speaks of "Blackneck" AND "Ringneck" pheasants. And the melanistic form is derived from when Japanese green pheasants were introduced to the UK... NZ Ringneck Pheasants have such a scrambled heritage: They'd be a nightmare to list on ebird for a purist; guessing we should really just be listing them as "Phasianus species" now (I'm not going to)
I had an old Australian aviculture magazine from the c.1950's that mentioned the procurement of "Mongolian Ringneck pheasants" from Blenheim NZ. To this day, there is interest in keeping sub/species pure in Australian aviaries
Older NZ literature frequently speaks of "Blackneck" AND "Ringneck" pheasants. And the melanistic form is derived from when Japanese green pheasants were introduced to the UK... NZ Ringneck Pheasants have such a scrambled heritage: They'd be a nightmare to list on ebird for a purist; guessing we should really just be listing them as "Phasianus species" now (I'm not going to)
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Re: Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
To my recollection the feral swamphens in Florida originate from at least two Porphyrio species but most American birders don't care to split different-looking individuals into different taxa. I suppose the Phasianus pheasants here will be treated the same way.
- Michael Szabo
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Re: Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
As this thread about Redpoll subspecies shows, there is interest in the taxonomy of introduced bird species in New Zealand: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6453&p=38414&hilit=Redpoll+subspecies#p38414
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Re: Proposed 3-way split of Common Pheasant
Similarly, it has been proposed that the Dunnock be split into three species. If accepted, the international name of the Dunnock species that is found in New Zealand will become Common Dunnock. The scientific name of the subspecies that is believed to be present in New Zealand (Prunella modularis occidentalis) will not change.